MaxCAD Instruction Manual Chapter 2.

Chapter 2 Drawing Objects, the Draw Menu.

2.1 The First Time.
2.2 A Word About Hot Keys.
2.3 Drawing lines.
2.4 Drawing a line with an "oops" in it.
2.5 Drawing a Closed Figure.
2.6 If you left click the end of the line by mistake.
2.7 Typing Coordinates, Closed Figure.
2.8 Typing Coordinates, Open Figure.
2.9 Intermixing Mouse Clicks and Typed Coordinates.
2.10 Drawing a Circle, Clicking Radius.
2.11 Drawing a Circle, Typing Diameter.
2.12 Drawing Arcs.
2.13 Inserting Text.
2.14 Shapes.
2.15 Dial and Meter Scale Designer.
2.16 Dimensions.
2.17 Polar Array.
2.18 Rectangular Array.

Chapter 2

Drawing Objects, the Draw Menu.
It is strongly suggested that you have MaxCAD running at the same time you are viewing this instruction manual. To do so, follow these instructions.

Press Windows key and M to minimize this program.
Start MaxCAD by what ever means you prefer.
Press Alt-TAB to switch between this manual and MaxCAD.
Now you can see the MaxCAD drawing board or try something as soon as you read about it.
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2.1 The First Time.
Start MaxCAD. You will see a mostly black screen with green dots on it. This is the drawing board. Standard looking windows bars are at the top and bottom of the screen.
Objects drawn on the screen will appear in the default color of white. The green dots are the grid markers and the default setting is 0.4 inches. The dot at the origin, X=0 and Y=0, is magenta.
At the top of the drawing board, near the center, you will see "Zoom 100%". This will be followed by two numbers separated by a comma. These numbers are the X and Y coordinates of the cursor and will change as you move the mouse. Following the coordinates you will see "Snap (Both)". Other status information and prompts will appear at the top of the drawing board depending on the operation which has been invoked.
The title bar at the top of the screen contains a great deal of useful information. Starting at the left is "MaxCAD:". To the right is "C:\...\My Documents\MaxCAD\????\*.dwg". The "????" and "*" indicate that what appears here depends on what file you have loaded and how your computer is configured. The "\...\" indicates that what is in this part of the path is complex and always the same. It is just a waste of space to repeat it each time. If your My Documents folder is in the root folder of drive C or some other drive the "\...\" will not appear. If a file has not been loaded and the drawing you are working on has not been saved for the first time this space will say "No File".
To the right of that you will see ". Where xx is the two character prefix of the currently selected font and yy is the two character prefix of the currently selected shape library. As shipped this part of the title bar will read " ".
Moving on to the right you will see "Draw Color = White Line Type = Solid". These will change as you change the draw color and/or line type.
The mouse cursor will appear as a small solid cross with a larger dotted cross behind it. You will notice that small movements of the mouse will make small movements of the solid cross but the dotted one will not move at first and then will jump to another position. This is known as snap. The default setting is 0.1 inch. The default values of grid and snap can be changed in the default dialog. The current values can also be changed from the drawing board as often as you like. Snap is extremely useful to ensure that parallel lines are indeed parallel, etc.
Snap can be turned off, applied to only X or Y, or different values of snap may be set on X and Y.
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2.2 A Word About Hot Keys.
It seems to be a little known fact that hot keys are available in most all Windows applications and in Windows itself. Any command or function that can be invoked from a menu can also be invoked by a hot key combination.
I cut my teeth on HDOS and CP/M and grew up on MSDOS. When Windows first appeared I would tell people "I don't do windows." But as the popularity of the Windows operating system grew and applications appeared which would not run in MSDOS I was forced into submission.
I have never liked accessing menus with the mouse. I feel it slows me down. I can hit a hot key combination 3 times while someone else wanders through the menus and sub menus looking for the command they want. Consequently I have given much thought, devoted much effort, and written many lines of code to make hot keys available. If you prefer the menu maze you don't have to use hot keys.
The hot keys are organized in a way which is logical to me and I hope you will also find logical. Certain key combinations have become standard in Windows applications. These have been adhered to in this program. The files and edit menus use letter keys modified by the control key. All of these follow the Windows standard such as control S for save and control C for copy to clipboard. The View menu uses unmodified function keys except for one which uses a control letter. The Draw menu uses unmodified letter keys. In this manual and the help screens these letters are given as capital letters but if you hold the shift key that will make it a different command. When told to type a letter just type without holding any other key. Five of the draw commands use a two character combination. Do not hold one while typing the other. Type one and follow it with the other. The Settings menu is somewhat of a mixed bag. As in most Windows applications pressing F1 will open the help window. The list of hot keys will be shown. Control F1 will open a screen describing how to use the help menu and screens. These will be described in later chapters.
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2.3 Drawing lines.

Select "Line" from the "Draw" Menu or type L. Do not hold the shift key, just type the letter L. Upper case has been used for clarity. Starting at the upper left corner of the drawing board you will see "Line: Left click point(s) . Right click end. U undo, C close." Followed by a blue text box. Below the text box are the words "TAB to enter". The box may or may not cover the word "Zoom".
Left click a point on the drawing board and move the mouse cursor away from it. A dotted line called the rubber band will stretch between the point you clicked and the current position of the mouse pointer. A new line of text will appear below the X,Y coordinates which says "R = mmm Theta = nnn" where mmm is the length of the rubber band and nnn is the angle it makes with the horizontal. Move the mouse around and note how the numbers change.
Click another point. The rubber band will change to a solid line and as you move the mouse again another rubber band will stretch out. Click a few more points to amuse yourself.
Right click a point to end the line. Draw mode will be terminated.

Congratulations. You have just drawn your first line with MaxCAD.
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2.4 Drawing a line with an "oops" in it.

Click the wheel of your mouse. This will always recall the last draw command.
Click the start point of a new line.
Click a couple of points.
Type the letter U, upper case or lower case, and press the TAB key. You will see that the last line segment you drew will disappear and the rubber band will now stretch from the previous point to the mouse cursor.
Right click a point to end the line and terminate draw mode.
You can use this to correct mistakes in mid line without doing the entire line over again.
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2.5 Drawing a Closed Figure.

Start another line.
Make it a square, a rectangle, a triangle, or something irregular that strikes your fancy.
Stop just before the last click that would close the figure.
You can place the cursor over the start point and right click but instead try this. Type the letter C and press the TAB key.
A line segment will be drawn from the last point you clicked to the first point closing the figure. Line draw mode will be terminated.
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2.6 If you left click the end of the line by mistake.

Start another line.
Click 3 points and tell your self that the third one was supposed to be the end of the line. "Oops? I forgot to right click the end of the line." Don't panic. There are two possible solutions.
Type an E and press TAB. The line will be ended at the last point and draw mode will be terminated.
Position the cursor over the desired point and right click. Draw mode will be terminated. As long as snap is in "Both" this is easy to do accurately. If snap mode is off in either dimension, method 3 should be used.

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2.7 Typing Coordinates, Closed Figure.
I imagine your drawing board is getting a little cluttered by now so select "New" from the files menu or type Control N. You will be asked if you want to save the file. There are two reasons not to. 1) you don't know how to do that yet. 2) what you have drawn is just random trash and has no value.

Type L.
Instead of clicking with the mouse, type "0,0" without the quotes. As you type the characters will appear in the blue text box at the top of the drawing board.
Press the TAB key.
Type "1,0" no quotes and press TAB.
Type "1,1" no quotes and press TAB.
Type "0,1" no quotes and press TAB.
Type "C" no quotes and press TAB.

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2.8 Typing Coordinates, Open Figure.

Type L.
Instead of clicking with the mouse, type "0,-1" without the quotes. As you type the characters will appear in the blue text box at the top of the drawing board.
Press the TAB key.
Type "2,-1" no quotes and press TAB.
Type "2,2" no quotes and press TAB.
Type "0,2" no quotes and press TAB.
Type "E" no quotes and press TAB.

Typing E will end the line at anytime without right clicking. There wasn't enough room to include it in the prompt.
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2.9 Intermixing Mouse Clicks and Typed Coordinates.

Type L.
Type "-1,-3" and press TAB.
Using the mouse left click at the point 3,-3.
Type "3,3" and press TAB.
Right Click the point -1,3.

You can intermix mouse clicks and typed coordinates in any order and combination.
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2.10 Drawing a Circle, Clicking Radius.
There are only two parameters that completely define a circle. They are, 1) Coordinates of the center point, and 2) Radius.
The left hand portion of the drawing board should still be empty.

Select "Circle" from the "Draw" menu or type C. Do not hold the shift key, just type the letter C. Upper case has been used for clarity.
Left Click a point with the mouse. The Circle prompt will appear at the top of the drawing board.
Move the mouse away from the point. You will see a dotted circle that shows where the circle will be drawn.
Right click to turn the dotted circle solid. The draw circle mode will be terminated.

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2.11 Drawing a Circle, Typing Diameter.

Click the mouse wheel to recall the circle draw command.
Click the center point.
Type a 2 and press TAB. Draw circle mode will be terminated.

A circle with a radius of 1 inch, 2 inches diameter, will appear on the drawing board.
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2.12 Drawing Arcs.
An Arc is part of a circle. It is one of the most powerful and useful elements in the draftsman's toolbox. There are 4 basic parameters to describe an arc. They are, 1) Center point, 2) Radius, 3) Angle at which it starts, and 4) Total included angle.
In this program there are 3 different ways of drawing an arc. They differ in the order in which the parameters are entered. The first of the three ways is, 1) Center point, 2) Start point, this gives the radius and starting angle simultaneously, and 3) Ending angle, the angle spanned by the arc is found, by the program, by subtraction. The second way is, 1) Start point, 2) Center point, and 3) ending angle. The third way is 1) Start point, 2) End point, and 3) Center point. Each one of these is best suited to a particular situation. While there may be conditions under which two of the methods are equally applicable, the preferences of the user may lean toward one or the other. The program provides all three for maximum user comfort.
2.12.1 First Method, Center, Start, Angle.

Select "Arc" from the "Draw" menu and "Center Point, Start Point, Angle" from the "Arc" submenu. Or type A1. That's the letter A followed by 1. A reminder prompt will appear after you type the A. Do not hold the shift key, just type the proper character(s). Upper case has been used for clarity. Now I'll bet you see why.
Left Click a center point.
Move the mouse away and you will see a dotted circle.
Decide on a starting point and left click it.
As you move the mouse away from this point you will see lines defining an angle. Note that the radius does not change as you move the mouse, It was locked in by the second click.
Decide on an angle and right click it.

2.12.1.1 Limitations on the angle.

Start another arc and when you get to step 6 go around more than 180 degrees. Right click the point.
Note that this arc went the short way around. Detecting which direction and angle the user moved the mouse would take many lines of code and considerably slow down the program in this critical operation. Just remember, MaxCAD can't read your mind. Be thankful for that.

The maximum angle an arc can span is 180 degrees. If you choose an angle of exactly 180 degrees it may not go in the direction you want it to. Longer arcs must be made up of 2 arcs each approximately � of the total angle.
This limitation is caused by an unwise decision made early in the development process. I elected to store the arc parameters as starting angle and ending angle. If I had instead chosen to store them as starting angle and angle spanned, this problem could be overcome by entering the angle from the keyboard.

2.12.2 Second Method, Start, Center, Angle.

Select "Arc" from the "Draw" menu and "Start Point, Center Point, Angle" from the "Arc" submenu. Or type A2. Do not hold the shift key, just type the proper character(s). Upper case has been used for clarity.
Left Click a start point.
Move the mouse away and you will see a dotted circle. Except now the mouse cursor is at the center of the circle and the circle not only grows and shrinks but moves as you move the mouse.
Decide on a center point and left click it.
As you move the mouse away from this point you will see lines defining an angle. Note that the radius does not change as you move the mouse, It was locked in by the second click.
Decide on an angle and right click it.

2.12.3 Third Method, Start, End, Center.

Select "Arc" from the "Draw" menu and "Start Point, End Point, Center Point" from the "Arc" submenu. Or type A3. Do not hold the shift key, just type the proper character(s). Upper case has been used for clarity.
Left Click a start point.
Move the mouse away and you will see a dotted line known as the rubber band.
Decide on an end point and left click it. A copy of the dotted cursor will appear at the start point.
As you move the mouse away from this point you will see a copy of the dotted cursor at the end point. You will also see a dotted circle. The solid cursor and dotted cursor will separate. You have set two points on the circumference of the circle and the center MUST be equidistant from both points. The dotted cursor indicates where the center will be placed.
Move the center around until the arc has the curvature you want then right click.

This last method is perfect when an arc must be used to make a transition between two straight line segments.
2.12.4 First Method Typing Parameters.
As with the line draw command you can type in the values of Radius, Starting Angle, and Angle Spanned.

Select the first method, "Arc" "Center Point, Start Point, Angle" from the menu or type A1.
Click the center point.
Observe the prompt carefully. It says "Arc: Left click START point or type radius, angle".
Type a radius and starting angle separated by a comma. For example "2,45" without the quotes and press TAB.
The screen prompt will change to "Arc: Enter angle SPANNED.". You could click the angle but you have no reference to see the angle. Instead type an angle such as 135 degrees and press TAB.

This may come in handy if you know the radius and angles and want to be sure they are exact.
2.12.5 Second Method Typing Angle.
In the second method, "Start Point, Center Point, Angle", the only thing you can type in is the angle spanned. Test yourself by doing this without any further guidance from this text.
Parameters for the third method can be entered only by using the mouse.
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2.13 Inserting Text.
When text is entered, the mouse click will place the text in four different positions. They are; middle, center, start, and end. These will be illustrated by example below.
Type Control N and answer No to the save question.
2.13.1 The middle of text.

Select "Text" from the "Draw" menu or type T. Do not hold the shift key, just type the proper character(s). Upper case has been used for clarity.
You will be prompted "Text: Click location". Find the X=0 line by locating the magenta dot. Any point directly above or below this dot is X=0. Click on this line and exactly on a green dot near the top of the screen.
Press TAB to except the default setting of M which the prompt tells you is for middle.
Press TAB again to except the angle of 0.
Type something in the text entry box. It could be your name or something about quick brown foxes or anything else you want. After you finish typing press TAB.

2.13.2 The center of text.

Click the mouse wheel to recall the text command.
You will be prompted "Text: Click location". Click on the X=0 line exactly on a green dot just below the one you used for the previous example.
Type C in the small box and press TAB.
Press TAB again to except the angle of 0.
Type the same thing as before in the text entry box.

Note that the first line of text is split vertically by the row of green dots while the second line is sitting on top of the row of dots.
2.13.3 The start of text.

Click the mouse wheel to recall the text command.
You will be prompted "Text: Click location". Click on the X=0 line exactly on a green dot just below the one you used for the previous example.
Type an S in the small box and press TAB.
Press TAB again to except the angle of 0.
Type the same thing as before in the text entry box.

Note that the text starts on the dot where you clicked.
2.13.4 The end of text.

Click the mouse wheel to recall the text command.
You will be prompted "Text: Click location". Click on the X=0 line exactly on a green dot just below the one you used for the previous example.
Type an E in the small box and press TAB.
Press TAB again to except the angle of 0.
Type the same thing as before in the text entry box.

Now you see that the text ends where you clicked.
2.13.5 Text at other angles.

Click the mouse wheel to recall the text command.
You will be prompted "Text: Click location". Click on the X=0 line exactly on a green dot a couple of dots below the one you used for the previous example.
Press TAB.
Type an angle such as 45 or 30 in the box and press TAB.
Type the same thing as before in the text entry box.

Experiment with several angles. Negative values will tilt the text in the other direction.
2.13.6 Superscripts and Subscripts.
Superscripts and subscript s are accomplished through the use of operator characters. They are characters which instead of printing, make the text following them behave in a certain way. The [ moves the following text down 1/2 line while the ] character moves the text up 1/2 line.

Click the mouse wheel to recall the text command and click in an empty part of the drawing board.
Press TAB twice to select the defaults of Middle and 0 degrees angle.
Type R[1] = 47 } and press TAB.
Click the mouse wheel again and click in another blank area of the drawing board. Then press TAB twice.
Type X]2[ = 25 and press TAB.

If the subscript or superscript is the last character on the line the second bracket is not necessary, as in the example R[2] has the same value as R[1. The text object has no memory of the cursor position in the one that went before.
2.13.7 Text Height.

Select "Text Height" from the "Settings" menu or press Control F5.
Type .2 in the blue box at the top of the drawing board and press TAB.
Invoke the text command and type "Something, anything�" in the text box.
Note that the text is much bigger while the size of the earlier text has not changed. The size of each text object is stored with it so you can change it at any time and as often as you want.
2.13.8 Special Characters.
You have already seen that the [ and ] characters have been given up to make superscripts and subscripts. If they should be needed they could be made with the line command. Seven other little used characters have been sacrificed to make some symbols and Greek letters. A list follows.

Character Character
Name Symbol
Name

_ Underline theta

^ Caret degree
symbol

~ Tilde pi

` Grave(ah) beta

{ Left brace mu

| Vertical bar Capital Delta.

} Right brace Capital Omega

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2.14 Shapes.
Before the Shape command can be used there must be one or more Shape Libraries on your computer. If you installed MaxCAD as instructed you have several that were supplied with the program. The default has been set to the electronics schematic symbols which are also the most numerous. The prefix for this set of shapes is "Sc" which means that all the file names begin with this two letter combination.
2.14.1 Inserting a Shape.

Type Control N and click 'No" to the "Save file" question.
Select "Shape" from the "Draw" menu or type S. Do not hold the shift key, just type the proper character(s). Upper case has been used for clarity.
Look in the upper left corner of the list and click on "BJT Amp".
The list will disappear and you will be back on the drawing board. Place the mouse somewhere and left click. A constant voltage biased amplifier will appear.
Move the mouse somewhere else and left click again. The shape will disappear from its original location and reappear where you clicked.
Place the mouse at about the center of the drawing board and right click.
Move the mouse away from where you clicked and you will see a rubber band. Stretch out the rubber band at any angle other than zero and left clicked.
Move the mouse around the center point and left click at several different angles.
Set the rubber band's angle at zero, or another angle if you are a nonconformist, and right click.
We will do flipping under the next heading. Right click again, it doesn't matter where, or press TAB. This terminates the draw shape command.
I hope you have notice by now that a right click is a lock-in or finish command. As the text that is part of the shape indicates this is a shape made up of other shapes.
Repeat the steps above except after the first right click type an angle instead of clicking the mouse. Press TAB and then TAB again to finish.
2.14.2 Flipping a shape.
You need to flip, or mirror image, a shape for some types of circuits. Here's an example.

Type Control N and answer No.
Type S.
Click on BJT NPN.
Right click somewhere generally to the upper right of center. Right click twice more but not too fast. How fast you can click depends on the speed of your computer and how much of its resources are being used by other programs.
Type S again and this time select BJT PNP.
Set your mouse 0.8 inches below the center line of the other transistor symbol and even with the left edge. That is 0.8 inches below the base lead of the other transistor.
Right click only twice.
Type a V in the box in answer to the prompt "Shape: Flip; H = horizontal, V = Vertical, N = none."
You now have a complementary push-pull pair of transistors on the drawing board. Try to duplicate the drawing below. For the non-technically inclined, the larger triangular object is an "Op Amp", the squiggly lines are known by the name "Resistor", the dots are "Tie Dot", the +12 V is "12 v Positive", the -12 V is "12 v Negative", and the smaller triangular object is "Ground Common". Use lines to connect things together and place a boarder around the entire circuit.
When inserting shapes that contain other shapes, or text, using Flip and an angle of other than zero together, is not advised. The letters in the flip-flops were drawn not inserted. The test instrument shapes do contain text and sum contain other shapes. However there should never be a situation where they need to be either flipped or rotated. All of the other supplied shapes contain only lines, circles, and arcs.
If you make a shape that has a hidden, dashed, line in it the line will appear dashed in the drawing into which the shape is inserted. The dash and gap length will be set in the drawing not within the shape.
As things are currently set up any shape inserted into a drawing will have the current draw color. The entire shape will be that color and parts of it may not be changed. With shapes it's either all or nothing.
The other choice would have been for the shape to carry its colors into the drawing and they could not have been changed. That would have permitted different parts of the shape to be in different colors but it would be impossible to change the colors of the shape.

Figure 2.1 Drawing made with shapes and lines.

2.14.3 Making Shape Files.
To make a new shape simply type control N to start a new drawing and draw what you want. Pay particular attention to the location of the 0,0 point. This is the location point of the shape. When you click to place the shape, the point 0,0 will be under the mouse cursor. Save the drawing in the "Shapes and Fonts" folder or the equivalent folder on your computer.
2.14.4 Naming Shape Files.
If you want to add a shape to one of the existing shape libraries you must begin the file name with the two character combination for that shape library. For example if you want to add something to the chassis layout library you must begin the file name with the letters "CL". The case must also be correct or the shape may not be recognized. The rest of the name should be the common language name of the shape. For example if you wish to add a 100 watt resistor to the Chassis Layout library the name should be "CLResistor, 100 W.dwg".
In addition if you wish to add a symbol to the Schematic library there is a second level prefix to be included. After the prefix of Sc there are two more characters which place the symbol into its proper category. These are as follows.

A- Analog, devices such as transistors and op amps.
B- Blocks, things such as DIP ICs and voltage regulators which consist of rectangles with no internal detail and terminal connections to the out side.
D- Diodes.
G- General, passive components and connection points such as jacks, plugs, power supply connections, and grounds.
L- Logic, gates and flip-flops.
M- Mathematics symbols, such as integrals and radicals.
R- Electrical sources, such as batteries and current sources.
S- Relays and switches.
T- Transducers, such as LEDs, meters, and speakers.
U- Transformers.
V- Vacuum tubes.
W- Wave forms, such as the output of a full wave rectifier.

When you call up the shape list by typing S the prefixes are not displayed and neither is the file extension. Only the name you have given it will show.
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2.15 Dial and Meter Scale Designer.
The Dial and Meter Scale designer took many lines of code and many hours of pounding the keys. It has been well worth it. I have used it to dress up a number of projects described on this site.

Figure 2.2 Identification of Parts of a Scale Object.

This feature can be used to make a linear meter scale, a linear dial scale for a variable capacitor, or a linear dial scale for a potentiometer. See Chapter 9 for the procedure used to make a nonlinear scale.
You may invoke the Dial and Meter Scale designer by typing Control D or selecting Dial & Meter Scale Designer from the Draw menu. When you do so the previous design is loaded from a file. This permits multiple scales to be designed without the need to enter the same data over and over.
There are 13 numerical parameters to be entered, 2 radio buttons, one check box, and two more numeric entries that effect only the design window. These will be described one at a time below. (I don't think it would be possible to describe all of them at once.)

Scale Radius. This is the distance from the center of the arc to its perimeter as shown in the figure above. If the numbers are on the inside of the arc the distance is still to the perimeter.
Total Angle. As indicated in the figure this is the angle from one end of the scale arc to the other. In the case of a meter it is approximately 90 degrees. For a variable capacitor it is 180 degrees and for a potentiometer is approximately 300 degrees although this will vary depending on the manufacturer and style of the pot.
Rotation Angle. This is the angle a line from the center point to the center of the arc makes with the horizontal. The Rotation Angle, abbreviated R A is illustrated by the small meter scales across the bottom of the figure above.
Major Marks. This is the number of major marks on the scale. These marks have the numbers associated with them. Be sure to count zero when setting this number. For example if you want a 0 to 10 scale with numbers every 2 units you must enter 6 in this box. (0, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10.)
Mark Length. The only thing that will distinguish between the major, intermediate, and minor, marks is their length. The entry in this box will set the length of the major mark.
Intermediate Marks. This is the number of intermediate marks. If this value is set to 0, no intermediate marks will be placed on the scale.
Mark Length. The only thing that will distinguish between the major, intermediate, and minor, marks is their length. The entry in this box will set the length of the intermediate mark. If the box is blank or a value of 0 is entered, A mark of 0 length will be inserted. (No mark.)
Minor Marks. This is the number of minor marks. If this value is set to 0, no minor marks will be placed on the scale.
Mark Length. The only thing that will distinguish between the major, intermediate, and minor, marks is their length. The entry in this box will set the length of the minor mark. If the box is blank or a value of 0 is entered, A mark of 0 length will be inserted. (No mark.)
CCW Value. This is the numeric value that will be placed at the counter clockwise end of the scale.
CW Value. This is the numeric value that will be placed at the clockwise end of the scale. There are no restrictions on these values. Zero may be placed at either end. To obtain a zero center scale place a value at one end and the negative of it at the other end. Be sure to use an odd number of major marks or the zero will not show.
Decimal Places. This is the number of decimal places that will appear in the numeric labels on the major marks. For the example above of a 0 to 10 scale with 6 major marks this value may be set to 0 and the meter will look the way you expect. However, if you set it to 5 major marks the numbers would have to be 0, 2.5, 5, 7.5, and 10. If you set decimal places to zero, you will get 0, 3, 5, 8, and 10. Setting decimal places to 1 will give the proper values.
Text Height. This sets the height of the numbers. If there are no font files on your computer or the path to them has not been specified, no numbers will appear.
Numbers and Marks --. There are two radio buttons that determine if the numbers and marks are inside or outside of the arc.

Inside of Arc. If this button is selected the numbers and all marks will be inside the arc which connects the marks.
Outside of Arc. If this button is selected the numbers and all marks will be outside of the arc.
You can make a very neat looking two scale meter by designing one scale with numbers on the outside. After placing it on the drawing board type D again to call up the designer. The same data will be in the boxes. Change the values in the CCW and CW values and switch to the Inside of Arc button and place it on the drawing board at the same point.
Check Box: Numbers Oriented for Sideways Meter. There may be occasions when you want to set a meter or dial scale on its side, Rotation Angle = 0 or 180 degrees. If this box is checked the numbers will be oriented so they are mostly right side up. Meter and dial scales universally orient the numbers to be rotated around the center of the arc rather than being always horizontal.
There are two more numeric entry boxes in the designer window. They are Center Location % Height, and Center Location % Width. They set where the center of the arc will be placed in the designer window. The default setting is 50%. If the scale falls outside the window or overlaps the data entry boxes you can change these values to move the previewed scale where ever you want it in the window. The settings will be retained until you change them.
There are three buttons. They are as follows.

Transfer to Drawing. This saves all scale parameters to a file, closes the designer window, and prompts you to left click the center of the scale arc. When you do so the scale will appear on the drawing board and will be the same size as it appeared in the designer window.
Preview Scale Layout. This updates the scale shown in the designer window to incorporate any changes made to the parameters in the entry boxes. The designer window remains open. All parameters are also saved to a file.
Cancel. This closes the design window and does not save any of the parameters.
The size of the scale in the designer window is the same as it will appear on the drawing board. The zoom setting of the drawing board is figured into the scaling. Try this example.

If you haven't already placed a scale on the drawing board, type D, click Scale to Drawing, and click a point on the drawing board.
type Control D again and use a ruler or pair of dividers to measure the size of the scale image in the designer window.
Click Cancel and measure the size of the scale on the drawing board. They should be the same.
Press F3 or F4 to zoom out or in. Make a significant change in the size of the scale.
Again measure the size of the scale on the drawing board.
Press Control D and measure the size of the scale in the designer window.
If the zoom and limits are set drastically different from those set the last time the designer was used it may seem as if there is no scale being displayed when you open the designer window. The scale may be a tiny dot at the center of the window or it may be so large as to be completely outside the window.
The arc is not truly an arc but consists of a series of straight lines between marks. Try this.

Press Control D.
change the values as follows.

Major Marks to 3
Intermediate Marks to 0.
Minor Marks to 0.
CCW Value to 0.
CW Value to 10

Click Preview Scale Layout.
To correct this, change Minor Marks to 10, Mark Length just below it to 0, and click Preview Scale Layout. See? All better now. It strikes me as unlikely anyone would want to make a scale like this but just in case you do, now you know how.
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2.16 Dimensions.
When this was purely an electronics schematic drawing program there was no need for dimensions. Now that MaxCAD is being used to design woodworking projects, putting in dimensions one object at a time has been found to be quite tedious. So I have written a great many lines of code to make it possible to add dimensions to a drawing with just 3 mouse clicks and 3 presses of the TAB key.

Type the letter D.
Left click on the start point of the dimension.
Left click on the end point of the dimension. At this point the length of the dimension will be displayed below the cursor coordinates at the top of the screen.
Right click on the point where you want the text (numerical) value to be placed.
You will see a prompt to Center or Not the text (C or N). The default is C. If you take the default the text will be exactly centered no matter how far off center you click. Press TAB to take the default or type N then TAB to Not center the text.
Now you will see a prompt for the number of decimal places. The default is 2. Press TAB to take the default or change the number then press TAB.
Now you will see the text as it will appear in the dimension. For example, if the two points you clicked were 2 and 3/4 screen units apart the box will contain 2.75". You may edit this to 2-3/4" or 2' 9" or leave it as is. When you are finished editing, press TAB. The dimension lines and text will appear on the drawing board.
If you clicked the right hand point first the text will be upside down and backward. To get it right always click the left point first. For a vertical dimension you may want the text to be read from bottom to top, or from top to bottom. The first point clicked will determine the beginning of the text.
There will certainly be times when the text will be too long to fit between the dimension lines, such as when labeling the thickness of a 3/4 inch thick shelf. If you try to place the text between the dimension lines you will get an error message. After clearing the message, press D again, or click the mouse wheel, and place the text outside the dimension lines. This time it will appear as it should. The answer to the "center" prompt has no effect on text placed outside the dimension lines.
2.16.1 Rules of Text Placement.

The point you right click is where the middle of the text will be placed. See "2.13.1 The middle of text" above.
If you leave a "C" in the "Center or Not" box it will override the point parallel to the dimension and the text will always be centered. The right click will still set the distance between the text and the dimension.
When a dimension is long, and you type "N" in the "Center or Not" box, the text will not automatically be centered between the dimension lines. It will be placed where you right click.
If you right click so close to a dimension line that the inserted text would overlap the arrowhead, the text will be moved far enough away from the dimension line to give a pleasing appearance. This will work at either end of the dimension.
In the case of dimension text outside the dimension lines, the line on that side will be extended out to be just short of the end of the text. The answer to the "Center or Not" question will not have any effect.
If you try to place the text too close to the dimension line it will be moved away to give a pleasing appearance.
Whether the dimensions are horizontal, vertical, or on a diagonal, the order of left mouse clicks will set the direction of the text.
The size of arrowheads, the spacing between the objects and dimension lines, and the length of dimension lines past the arrow head, are all determined by the text height. If your drawing size is 80 by 100 screen units and the text height is set to 0.1 the text and all other features of the dimension lines will be to minute to be seen.
The Dimension object works on the assumption that the drawing is to scale. If you are designing a bookcase that is 84 inches tall the drawing of it must be 84 inches tall. If you make a scale drawing such as 1 inch equals 1 foot, you can simply interpret the dimensions as feet instead of inches. Each text object will have to be edited to avoid showing dimensions in decimal fractions of feet.
Here are some examples. The two green dots are where the mouse was left clicked. The side toward the beginning of the text was clicked first. The red dots are where the mouse was right clicked. The "Center or Not" question was always answered with "N".

Figure 2.3 Drawing Showing Several Examples of Dimensioning.

In the upper left 1.60" dimension the left green dot was clicked first. The mouse was right clicked on the red dot which happens to be centered.
To the right the text point was right clicked far outside the dimension points.
Below, back on the left, the right click point is very close to the point where the arrowhead is located and the red dot is almost covered by it. The text was automatically moved over to keep it entirely within the dimension lines.
Over to the right, in the 2.40" dimension, the right click point is directly above the second left click point. Because of a "greater than or equal to" in the code, this is taken as outside the dimension lines and the text is moved over as explained above.
Directly below on the right, in the 2.00" and 0.40" dimensions, the right click point was directly in line with the two left click points. When this is done, the perpendicular lines are eliminated and just the lines along the dimension and arrowheads show.
On the left the two 6.00" dimensions show how the order of left clicks determine the direction of text and also that the text may be placed anywhere along the dimension.
To the right of these is a diagonal dimension. It works the same as orthogonal dimensions. The distance is the hypotenuse.
Unlike a shape, the dimension layout consists of separate drawing objects. Any single part can be moved, edited, or deleted.
The drawing below is an example of dimensioning a bookcase design. All text inside the lines is allowed to automatically be centered.

Figure 2.4 Bookcase design with dimensions.

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2.17 Polar Array.
A polar array is a series of drawing elements, or a series of collections of drawing elements, arranged about a center and equidistant from it.
Suppose you want to make an array of 10 long lines each with a circle at its end. Each line must start 1 inch from the center and be 1 inch long. The circle must have a diameter of 0.2 inches. You could draw each line and circle individually but the polar array was included as a time saver.

Open MaxCAD and if a drawing appears press control N.
Type L and draw a line from 1,0 to 2,0.
Type C and click on the point 2.1,0.
Type .2 and press TAB.
Type A then P.
Click on the line then hold the shift key and click on the circumference of the circle. Both will turn gray.
Left click the point 0,0.
The blue box will appear and the default value of 2 will be in it and will be selected.
Type 10 and press tab.
Press TAB to except the default value of 180 degrees for the array angle.
Notice that the circles do extend outside the 180 degree arc but this is most likely what would be wanted of this design. Now try this one.

Press Control N to clear the drawing board.
Type A then 1 for the first kind of arc.
Click at the center, 0,0.
Move the mouse to the point 1,0 and left click.
Type 10 and press TAB.
Type A then P.
Click on the arc.
Click at the point 0,0.
Type 10 in the box and press TAB.
Press TAB to except the default of 180 degrees.
Notice that the last dash in the dashed arc extends beyond 180 degrees. This is probably what would not be desired for a dashed half circle.

Repeat steps 1 through 9 above.
Type 170, 180 - 10, in the box and press TAB.
By reducing the angular extent of the array by the angle of one element the figure is a dashed semicircle which is most likely what was desired.
This is another example of the program not being able to read your mind. Sometimes you may want part of the array elements to extend beyond the angle of the array and sometimes not. Since the program can't think for you, you will just have to do it for yourself.
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2.18 Rectangular Array.
A rectangular array is a series of drawing elements, or a series of collections of drawing elements, arranged in rows and columns.
Suppose you want to make an array of circles that is three elements wide and two elements high.

Type control N to clear the drawing board.
Type C and click at the point 0,0.
Right click at the point 0.4,0. This is on the green dot to the right of the magenta one.
Now type an A followed by an R.
Click on the perimeter of the circle. The circle will turn gray.
Look at the prompt at the top of the screen. You have the option of selecting more objects to be in the array but there aren't anymore. Your being asked if you want to go to the parameters entry window. Press TAB to except the default of Y.
If the boxes are blank type 2 in the Number of Rows box, 3 in the number of columns box, and 1,1 in the Cell Spacing X,Y box. If 2 and 3 appear in the first two boxes, press TAB until the cursor is in the third box and overtype 2,2 with 1,1.
If the Cell Spacing radio button is not selected, select it.
If the Enter Dimensions Using Mouse checkbox is checked, uncheck it.
Click OK.
You now have an array that is 3 wide by 2 high. Take note, 3 columns and 2 rows. Also notice that the horizontal and vertical distances between centers of circles is 1 inch.

Type control N.
starting at the point 0,0 draw a square that is 0.4 on a side and has its lower left corner at 0,0.
Type A then R.
Select the square and press TAB to go to the parameters window.
Leave the values of 2 and 3 in the first two boxes.
Click on the Total Array radio button and check the Enter Dimensions Using Mouse checkbox.
Left click the lower left corner of the square.
Right click the point 2,1.
Notice that the outer dimensions are 2.4 by 1.4. Presumably in this case an array with outer dimensions of 2,1 would be wanted. Repeat the above procedure but this time click on the point 1.6,0.6. Now the array has the dimensions 2,1. Once again you have to think because the program can't do it for you.
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Character	Character Name	Symbol Name
_	Underline	theta
^	Caret	degree symbol
~	Tilde	pi
`	Grave(ah)	beta
{	Left brace	mu
\|	Vertical bar	Capital Delta.
}	Right brace	Capital Omega